


Fauxiance (Or: That Time FitzSimmons Accidentally Got Engaged)

by orphan_account



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, I can't stop, fitz learns to never joke around at his mother's house, seriously tooth rotting fluff, she loves jemma, she wants grandbabies, these tumblr posts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-15
Updated: 2015-08-15
Packaged: 2018-04-14 19:27:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4576938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: I proposed to you as a joke but my mom (who’s been wanting me to settle down) thought it was serious and we’re kind of going along with it until we can break it to her gently. </p><p>“What the bloody hell are you doing?” </p><p>“She just seemed so happy. And how were we going to explain that without breaking her heart?!”</p><p>“This is a mess, Jemma.”</p><p>“We’re going back to the Bus in two hours, Fitz. We can pretend to be engaged for two hours.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fauxiance (Or: That Time FitzSimmons Accidentally Got Engaged)

**Author's Note:**

> Somebody stop me. I cannot get off of the fluff train.

It all started as a walk through the garden at Fitz’s childhood home. The team had a brief stop near Glasgow, and Coulson had graciously allowed Jemma and Fitz to pay a quick visit to his mum, who had been positively thrilled to see them both. They had spent twenty minutes rapidly catching up, telling her all that they legally could about their work over the last year. 

Jemma had spent many Christmases with the Fitzes, but had never actually seen the garden in the springtime. When she’d offhandedly mentioned this, Donna Fitz immediately pushed them into the garden. 

“Leopold, show her around while I make some tea!” 

“I’ve told her to stop callin’ me tha’,” Fitz grumbled as they walked through the grass. 

Jemma giggled. “Oh, Fitz. She’s your mum!” 

“Yeah, yeah,” he sighed in mock resignation. “Wish she’d given me a better name though.” 

“Your name is just fine!” Jemma exclaimed. “You know I like your name.” 

He rubbed at the back of his neck with one hand. “Well.” 

They settled into companionable silence, enjoying the fresh air outside of the Bus. They’d debated inviting Skye, but she’d insisted on dragging Ward to the tourist spots. 

“Y’know, this was my dad’s house growin’ up,” he said suddenly. Jemma gave him a soft smile. 

“So I’ve been told,” she replied. “You look like him.” 

Fitz shrugged. “Not really. I don’t really see it, but Mum says it all the time.” 

“You definitely do!” Jemma argued. “You’ve got his eyes, especially, not to mention all that curly hair.” 

She raised a hand up to brush over his hair, giggling as her fingers got trapped on a curl. 

“Alright, you,” Fitz warned teasingly. She giggled and put her arm through his as they continued their walk. Jemma kneeled down to examine a particularly interesting flower, and Fitz looked around the garden fondly. He wished he could come home more often, but it just wasn’t possible. It was part of what he’d sacrificed when he followed Jemma into the field in a mobile unit. Watching her marvel at a common flower, he decided that he didn’t regret that decision (even if it did mean not seeing his mum as often as he’d like). She was his best friend and his partner in every way. He couldn’t even begin to fathom a life without her. 

Jemma eventually tired of the flower and stood up again, giving him a beaming grin. He couldn’t help but smile back, and she took his arm again as they continued their stroll. 

“Oh, how lovely!” Jemma exclaimed when they came upon a small bench mostly obscured by flowers. 

“Tha’s actually where my dad proposed to my mum,” Fitz told her, smiling nostaligically. “They’d come ou’ here every anniversary.” 

“Leo Fitz,” Jemma began, her tone light and airy, “did you bring me out here to propose to me?” 

Smirking, Fitz dropped down on one knee. “Jemma Simmons,” he said, trying his hardest to keep a straight face. “You are my best friend in the world. Will you marry me?” 

“Fitz!” Jemma mockingly squealed. “Yes, yes, a million times yes!” 

She yanked him up off of his knee and hugged him tightly, giggling pleasantly in his ear. 

“LEOPOLD! I am so happy for you!” his mother suddenly squealed from the back porch. They both froze, turning to look at her in shock. “I always knew there was something between you two,” she tutted. “You always said ‘no mum, Jemma’s just m’friend” but I knew it. Always knew it. I couldn’t ask for a better daughter-in-law, darling.” 

Fitz felt completely frozen, gears turning in his brain trying to find a way out of this mess. 

“And to think I worried I wouldn’t have grandchildren. Oh, I am so happy. And you brought her home so I could be a part of it! Your father would be so proud.” 

And now his mother was openly weeping and pulling them both into an uncomfortably tight embrace. He looked at Jemma over his mother’s hair and she gave him an apologetic shrug. 

“I’m so excited, Brenda!” Jemma squealed, separating from Fitz to hug her tighter. 

Fitz stood off to the side like a fish out of water as his mother held Jemma at arm’s length. 

“Let me see the ring!” 

“Oh, well, uh—“ Fitz interrupted. “I didn’t really get a chance since, uh, we’re always—y’know—“ 

“With all the traveling, silly Fitz hasn’t had a chance to get one yet,” Jemma explained, rolling her eyes at him. 

“Oh, follow me. I have just the thing. I’ve bene holding onto this for Fitz since the first time he brought you home, dear. If he’d given me any warning…” 

She trailed off as the two of them followed her back into the house. As soon as he was sure his mother had disappeared upstairs, he turned on Jemma. 

“What the bloody hell are you doing?” Fitz hissed under his breath. 

“She just seemed so happy,” Jemma rushed to explain. “And how were we going to explain that without breaking her heart?!” 

Fitz heaved a long-suffering sigh, bracing himself on a kitchen chair. “This is a mess, Jemma.” 

“We’re going back to the Bus in two hours, Fitz. We can pretend to be engaged for two hours.” 

“No we bloody cannot!” he whispered heatedly back to her. 

Jemma narrowed her eyes, poking him in the chest as hard as she could. “There are worst things that could happen to you than being engaged to me, you know.” 

“That’s not what I meant!” he spluttered. She simply crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows at him, indicating that he had dug himself into quite the whole. “Jemma…” 

“Here we are!” Brenda announced at the bottom of the stairs. “Come here, you two.” 

Fitz gave Jemma a dark look as he shuffled toward his mother’s voice. In return, she gave him a beaming smile and linked their hands together. 

“You may need to get it resized, but this is the ring that Fitz’s father gave me, and that his father had given his mother. Third generation is the charm,” she laughed merrily, slipping it onto Jemma’s finger. The ring really was beautiful, glistening on Jemma’s hand like that…

Fitz shook himself. No. He had been down this road before, and ever since she’d lost her mind and jumped out of a goddamn plane, she’d had him all confused. Their movie nights often ended in sleepovers, and waking up beside her the last few weekends had felt too good, too comfortable. And now she wanted to pretend to be getting married? 

But then his mum started crying again and…Jemma was crying too? The women in his life would be the end of him. He hugged his mother, kissed her on the cheek, and gave her his best attempt at a grateful expression and thank you. 

Now Jemma looked a little guilty, and when Brenda returned to the kitchen to put together a bigger spread for their celebratory tea, she turned to him with flushed cheeks. 

“Fitz, this was meant for you, when you’re actually getting married! I’m so sorry.” 

Fitz scoffed. “Married? Jemma, I haven’t dated anyone since I was what, twenty-one? Don’t think I’ll be gettin’ married any time soon.” 

“Oh Fitz,” she responded in her usual exasperated tone. “Any woman would be lucky to have you.” 

“Let me take some photos!” Brenda cheered as she came back in the room, holding a digital camera. “Come on, darlings.” 

They exchanged a look before pasting big smiles on their faces and assuming what Skye fondly called the “high school prom pose”. 

“Oh, don’t be shy, my loves. Give her a smooch, my boy!” 

Fitz nearly choked on his own spit, trying to figure out how to get out of this mishap. Jemma let out a breathy laugh and grabbed his face in her hands, going up on her toes as she pressed her lips to his. He forced himself to remain calm as he tentatively pushed back. To his surprise, Jemma’s arms wound around his neck as he slipped his around her waist. 

She opened her mouth to deepen the kiss and he nearly groaned into her mouth at the feeling before he remembered that his mother was photographing them. He pulled away slowly, pecking her on the mouth once more before dropping a kiss to her forehead. 

“Oh, those are lovely,” his mum cooed. “Okay, tea-time now. You two need to tell me everything. Leo never mentioned that you two had decided to take things to the next level. Last I heard from him he was an absolute mess after that plane incident.” 

“Mum,” Fitz groaned in embarrassment. “C’mon.” 

“Oh, Jemma,” Brenda said, leading her back into the kitchen for tea. “He was beside himself, I haven’t heard him cry like that since his dad passed away all those years ago.” 

Jemma’s eyes snapped to him, and he promptly looked at the floor. His face was already hot from kissing Jemma, and now his mother was throwing him under the bus. 

“I had no idea,” Jemma said softly, lacing their fingers together and giving his hand a gentle squeeze. He looked up at her and the expression on her face was undeniably tender. It made something in his chest twist, and without thinking about it, he pressed a kiss to her cheek. 

“Well, uh, you’re just---really important to me.” 

Jemma cleared her throat, blinking rapidly. “Well, Brenda, I don’t need to tell you that Fitz is the most precious thing to me. After that whole debacle, I think we just realized that you never know what could happen.” 

Fitz realized it was his turn to play along as they sat down for tea. “Exactly. So after she’d nearly died, we just kind of figured—if not now, when?” 

Jemma hummed in agreement, scooting closer to him. “He tried to follow me out of the plane, you know.” 

“I’d follow her just about anywhere,” Fitz said automatically. He felts Jemma’s hand tighten in his. 

“And silly Fitz felt so guilty afterward, because Ward jumped right out after me. But I told him that he was the hero. He was the one giving me hope when I thought I was going to die.” 

And, for the third time that day, his mother was crying. He wanted to roll his eyes, but he figured he would probably get in trouble with both of his favorite girls if he did that. 

Somehow, the remaining hours flew by. His mum disappeared to print photos from her camera for both of them with the little printer Fitz had built her. 

“Thank you for handling this so well,” Fitz told Jemma. “I really appreciate it.” 

“Of course,” Jemma chirped, leaning into him and resting her head beneath his chin. “Anything for my fiancé.” 

“My mum can’t hear us, Jemma,” he said gently, removing her from him. She blinked up at him with a hurt expression on her face. What had he done now? 

“Right. Sorry,” she said shortly. “I’m going to go clear up the rest of our things.” 

“Jemma, wait—“ 

She whirled on him, eyes bright. “What, Fitz?” 

“I don’t know what I did wrong.” 

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in through her nose. “All of this just kind of…reminded me of what I can’t have.” 

Fitz felt his stomach fall to his feet. Of course. He’d had no problem sacrificing the idea of family life to follow Jemma onto the Bus, but she’d always wanted a family. 

“I’m sorry.” 

“It’s not your fault that you don’t feel that way about me, Fitz,” she said diplomatically. 

“Wait, what?” Fitz yelped. 

She gave him a watery smile. “I know you have feelings for Skye. And I’m perfectly fine being your best friend, I wouldn’t sacrifice our partnership for anything, Fitz, but—“ 

He stepped closer to her. “What on earth are you talkin’ about?” 

She huffed and gave him an annoyed look. “I’m not repeating myself.” 

“You have…feelings for me?” he asked slowly, one hand coming to rest on her waist. She drew in a sharp breath of air. 

“Well…yes.” 

He placed his other hand in her hair as he drew her to him, grinning as she made a little noise in the back of her throat. This time he was the one to deepen the kiss, sliding his hands up and down her sides and backing her toward the wall. Nearly ten years of pent up feelings, denials, confusion, and doubt were being released, and that was nothing compared to the affection and loyalty and care that he desperately tried to translate into his hands and lips for her to have. 

“Oh, my!” his mother exclaimed, embarrassed. He wrenched himself away from her, scarlet red. Jemma straightened her shirt and stared down at the floor. 

“Sorry, mum, just havin’ a moment with my fiancé,” Fitz said cheekily. 

Brenda laughed and handed them each their stack of photos as she walked them to the door. 

“You’d better not elope somewhere exotic,” she warned. “I swear to you, Leopold, I will hunt you down.” 

“I know, mum,” he said affectionately. He pecked her cheek and wrapped her in a hug, and watched Jemma do the same. He grabbed her hand as they walked back toward the airfield where the Bus was parked, feeling the cool ring on her finger. 

“So, are we—“ 

“Yeah, Jemma,” Fitz grinned. “We are.” 

“But—just to clarify, we’re just dating, correct?” Jemma asked slowly. “Because I really do adore you, Fitz, but I’m just not ready for—“ 

He threw his head back and laughed, kissing her forehead. He slipped the ring off of her finger and put it in the pocket of his button down. “Why don’t I just hang onto that for now, yeah?” 

“Yeah,” she smiled, kissing him gently. 

Later that evening, as Jemma was gossiping with Skye (about him, he secretly hoped), he finally looked through the photos his mother had printed. The one of them passionately kissing made his cheeks flush with heat, and the next one nearly stopped his heart. It was right as he had pressed a kiss to Jemma’s hairline, his eyes shut and cheeks flushed, the very picture of content. She, on the other hand, was beaming, glancing up at him from under her lashes. 

He pinned it to the wall above his desk and opened the door as Jemma tapped gently on it, dressed in her pajamas. 

“I thought maybe we could watch a movie,” she said expectantly. 

“Of course,” he said, pulling her in by the hands. They spent their usual eight and a half minutes bickering about what to watch, and when they settled in with their film, Jemma quickly nestled her way into his arms. 

His mum could be a right busybody, but this time he would let it slide. Just this once.


End file.
